Eyes of the Falcon
by Kethran Medarin
Summary: Death should be challenged, not feared. Join Isao Michi, a.k.a Itami as he works to join the front lines in clearing the death game, Sword Art Online. Through his journey he runs into many encounters, benign or otherwise, and receives a mysterious message from an admin. "Unique skill unlocked." Rated T for language, violence.
1. Chapter 1

**DISCLAIMER :** Sword Art Online does not belong to me, but to it's respective writers, developers, publishers, etc. You know how it goes. I do, however, have the right to any and all OC's than can and will appear throughout the story. That being said, let's get it done!

* * *

I held the glass of whiskey up, looking at the refraction of the light hanging above me.

_It just looks so real...but..._

Sighing, I downed the drink in one go, slamming the glass on the table. My vision blurred for a second, before righting itself again.

"Tch." I scoffed, pouring myself another drink. For a world that supposedly simulates reality to a tee, It can't replicate getting drunk. I suppose that ruins my plans of sleeping this whole thing off and chalking it up to just a bad dream.

Oh, who am I kidding? I knew it deep inside my heart. Game or not, this is as real as it gets.

Sword Art Online, the revolutionary game that allowed for a fully virtual experience, a full-dive system. A marveled breakthrough in technology. It was what we had be dreaming of for years. What I had been dreaming of...a way to escape from the real world, at least temporarily.

My name is Isao Michi, but my avatar's name is Itami. I just turned 16...a few hours ago, as a matter of fact, so what better way to celebrate than having my first drink. It's easy to lose track of time here, in this world. But I don't want to forget who I am. I can't just abandon the real world like that.

Heh. I keep telling myself things like that, but here I am, sitting in a bar in the Town of Beginnings, along with every other player that didn't have the guts to try and clear the game. It sounded so simple at the time...clear all 100 floors, and we're free. Back in the closed beta, the beta-testers managed to clear 10 floors. And there were just 1,000 of them. If what the news said was true, there are exactly 10,000 players trapped in this world now.

Or at least, there were. It's been a month, and it's rumored that around 2,000 players had died already. In any normal game, that wouldn't mean a thing besides respawning with a little bit of lost exp. But this game was different.

**"If your HP reaches zero, you will die in this game, as well as in real life."**

Those words echoed in the back of my mind over and over, a constant reminder of the special rule in this "death game". Our real bodies were still connected to the Nerve Gear, the helmet device used to allow the full-dive experience. If we died in this game, the Nerve Gear would emit powerful microwaves, effectively frying our brain.

That's why the majority of us daren't even leave the safety of the starting town. Out there, the cute little pigs we would normally farm over and over for chump exp? One mistake, one accident, and you don't get to respawn. You die.

I sighed again, having successfully frustrated myself again by thinking about this. Pouring myself another drink, I downed it with no remorse, slamming the glass down as hard as I could on the table. The glass smashed into pieces and disappeared, and a purple notification appeared on the table, reading _"Immortal Object"_.

As the momentary blurriness of my vision cleared, I could hear someone standing on the bar, shouting at the others.

"It's hopeless! Even with 8,000 of us, we're never gonna beat this game. Might as well kill ourselves now and be done with it!" He yelled, earning a few angry and devastated looks from the players around him.

_They just don't get it._

"It's not like that." I said, still in my seat. "Numbers are important, yes. But not the numbers you're thinking of."

"Then what else could you possibly mean?" The man sneered at me, clearly unimpressed.

"This world is, for all intents and purposes, an MMO." I said, standing up and walking to the front of the bar. "Stats are what matters. Your STR, DEX, and of course, your HP. These are the numbers that will keep us alive. If we rush in as a mass of low-levels, we would get wiped from the start, and we'd all be dead."

I jumped onto the bar, pushing the man off as I used him to balance myself. Swaying slightly, I looked at all the patrons in the bar, a fire in my eyes I've never felt before.

_What the hell am I doing...I guess alcohol DOES have an effect in this game._

"I know you're all scared." I announced. "It's the only reason any of us in here have. It's what we keep telling ourselves. If we die here, we die in real life. But that rule has always applied! We can't just..."

I paused as I pretended to take a breath, but was actually thinking of what the hell to say to inspire them. Then it hit me.

"Our bodies in the real world," I started, getting everyone's attention with the mention of that. "Think about it. It's been a month. Our bodies can't just be in our beds at home anymore. We're most probably in hospitals, every one of us. The only thing keeping us alive is a machine...and this game. Neither of those will last forever."

"There's only one way to clear this game, and that's getting stronger and clearing every floor!" I shouted. Looking at the faces of the people around me, I could tell I wasn't getting through to them...they needed a sign, something to prove to them that this death game could be beaten. If only-

***BAM***

The door of the bar was thrown open, and a man ran inside, yelling.

"They did it! The 1st floor is cleared!"

_That'll do._


	2. Chapter 2

**DISCLAIMER :** Sword Art Online does not belong to me, but to its respective writers, developers, publishers, etc. You know how it goes. I do, however, have the right to any and all OC's than can and will appear throughout the story. That being said, let's get it done!

Eyes of the Falcon : Chapter 2

* * *

**1st Floor : Hunting Fields [2.00 PM]**

_Congratulations! You are now level_ 10!

I glanced up at the glowing message box and slumped my shoulders. Not that I was sad; no... but slaying a million pigs and bulls could really take a toll on a guy. I frowned a little on the disparaged status of my manliness. But what choice did I have? Being reduced to killing swine and cattle was the only safe option I had. If I wanted to survive in this literal death game, I had to be extremely careful with every decision I made.

For instance, I refused to give any monsters the chance to get remotely close enough to land a blow. A few weeks ago, I traded the sword that we all begin with to a big buff bald black dude in exchange for several pouches of throwing picks and a dagger. He told me the sword would help him in leveling up his smithing skill by deconstructing it into crafting materials. He did mention though, that projectile weapons in general were less popular due to scaling issues.

I was never one for swords anyway. Although most of the combat was done through performing [Sword Skills], I could never get the hang of it. This style of fighting suited me a lot better.

After leveling up the [Blade Throwing] skill a few times, I started to require less use of the system assist, which would normally help in terms of accuracy. Most monsters would take about 3 hits to kill, but just 1 if I managed to land a critical hit. If any got close however, that skill would become much more difficult to use. If it came to that, I had my dagger for emergency situations, but hopefully it wouldn't come to that. That being said, I opened up my inventory menu, as it was probably a good idea to check how many throwing picks I had left.

_Hmm... just under a hundred left. I should probably go back and resupply._

Shuffling through my inventory, I pulled out a teleport crystal. Raising it up in my hand, I prepared the command to return to town.

"Teleport : Town of Begi- GRKK!"

_*WHOOSH*_

I felt something snatch the crystal out of my grasp. Stunned, I looked up at my hand. The crystal was gone! Panicking, I looked around frantically for the culprit.

A noisy chatter to my left caught my attention. Whirling in its direction, I saw a squirrel sitting on a branch of a nearby tree.

_Aww, how cute! It's so fluffy and cuddly!_

Then I saw it holding my teleport crystal.

_That fucking rat! I'm gonna rip out its fur and feed it to him!_

"Oi! Give that back!" I yelled, shaking my fist at the squirrel.

It tilted its head, looking at me, and ran into a hole in the tree trunk, my crystal in tow.

I proceeded to climb up the tree and looked into the hole. The squirrel peered back at me with its cute little...I mean beady jerkass eyes, and disappeared further into the tree.

"Steal my shit, will you?" I snarled, practically punching my arm into the hole, feeling around for my crystal, or the squirrel's neck. Either one would bring me great pleasure at this point.

What I got instead was a stinging pain on my finger as the squirrel presumably bit me. I yelped in surprise, withdrawing my hand and seeing a minuscule cut on my finger. That wouldn't have irked me as much, until I saw my HP go down a slight sliver.

Huffing in rage, I whipped out my dagger, and thrust it back into the squirrel's hiding spot, swinging it around wildly until I heard a satisfying squeak and the sound of the bastard shattering into a million pieces.

"HAH!" I cheered, seeing a small menu appear in front of me, telling me I had just earned +2 experience from that kill. Sheathing my dagger, I reached into the hole again, looking for my crystal. I felt something solid and pulled it out.

Well, it's safe to say that it wasn't my crystal. Instead of being blue and cuboidal, this was a weirdly shaped...tree. However, it appeared to be made of solid gold. And boy, was it heavy. Smiling, I pocketed it, thinking of how much Col I could make from selling this item. Reaching in again, I finally found my crystal and raised it into the air again.

"Teleport : Town of Beginnings!"

* * *

**1st Floor : Town of Beginnings [4.45 PM]**

I sat at a fountain, counting my earnings from selling all the monster drops from my daily hunting. Boar tusks and hide sold for a decent price, and the Squirrel Pelt I got sold for a surprisingly high price as it was apparently from a rare monster.

However, I didn't sell the golden tree yet. Something about it made me think twice about just selling it for some quick cash. There had to be a reason for it being hidden in there. And most importantly, this was a game. Every item has a purpose.

For now, I was content with the money I made today. Exp, not as much. I wasn't leveling up as fast as I had wanted. When I heard about the 1st floor boss being defeated in that bar a month ago, I made up my mind to level up as soon as possible and help to clear this game with the other front liners.

However, in a little over a month I've only just got to level 10. I rolled my eyes in slight annoyance. Most of the players on the front lines were around level 20 already, with some even higher. In particular, the "beaters". They're apparently beta testers that deliberately use their knowledge of the game to level themselves up quicker, taking all the good quests and hunting spots from us regular players. One of those beaters, a one-handed swordsman with a long black coat even let a fellow player die against the 1st floor boss just so he could get the "last hit bonus". Or at least, that's what the rumors say.

Leaning back, I opened my inventory again and highlighted the golden tree I obtained earlier. Examining it, a small pop-up appeared, stating that it was called [Stolen Treasure].

_Huh... a quest item, maybe?_

I closed my menu with a downward swipe of my hand. Glancing at my finger, I thought back to earlier when that stupid squirrel bit me. Despite it having received divine judgement, it still bothered me that something as weak as a squirrel could make my HP go visibly lower, even if just by a bit.

Weren't my words something along the line of, "Stats are the numbers that will keep us alive."?

With my resolve renewed, I vowed to get stronger, and fast, and that meant... it was time to pay a visit to The Rat.

* * *

**1st Floor : Town of Beginnings [5.15 PM]**

"Eh? You want to get to level what now?" Argo the Rat exclaimed.

"25, in a week. You'd think a rat would have better hearing." I chimed. Her face pouted as she glared at me.

"You're as annoying as Kiri-bou", she muttered. I would have asked her who that was, but I'm sure she would have charged me several thousand Col just for that.

Argo the Rat. Just a regular player, but she doubles as an information broker. Nobody knows more than she does, and nobody knows why or how. Some say she would even sell her own grandmother for information. You could technically ask her about anything in the game, and she would know about it. She'd tell you whatever you want to know too. For a price.

"I'm sure we'd get along famously. Anyway, is it possible or not?" I asked, folding my arms. There HAD to be a better way than murdering barn animals for the rest of my life.

"Of course it is." She replied bluntly. "300,000 Col."

I think my face must have paled several shades whiter. I thought I was well-equipped in the money department, but my life savings right now amount to the grand total of 80,000 Col. And I was laughing at how rich I was 30 minutes ago. Ha-ha.

"I... I think I have to go now." I stammered.

"Suit yourself." She sniffed, shrugging her shoulders.

As I turned to leave, I remembered the [Stolen Treasure] from earlier. I turned back around.

"Argo," I called out to her, summoning the item onto my palm. "Can you at least tell me what thi-"

"UUOOOOOHHH!" Her eyes suddenly became round and shiny, exaggerated even more by the game's emoticon system. "Th-th-that's-!"

Following her eyes, I looked at the item in my hand, then back at her confusedly.

"That's the missing key item from the quest 'Me Lost Booty!' on the 10th floor! It's a quest that only appears once in the entire game! Not a single player could find it and complete the quest during the game's beta!" She started reaching out for my booty. Heheh.

I pulled it away from her, wiggling my eyebrows.

"Tell you what, let's make a deal. This item... for...-" I said. She snapped to attention, her face showing all business but her eyes still gazing hungrily at my booty. Heheh.

"500,000 Col." She interruptedly offered. I stared blankly back at her.

"And full information on the 'Me Lost Booty!' quest." She added. I continued staring, wondering how far I could push my luck.

"Urgh..._ and_ information on what you asked earlier." She finished defeatedly. I cracked a grin, and raised my hand to shake hers.

"Looks like we have a deal." I said happily as she shook my hand vigorously.

* * *

Argo began telling me about a quest chain that begins on the 3rd floor and lasts all the way to the 9th floor. It consisted of 2 elf colonies at war. In normal cases, a player would have to choose a side to fight for. But there was supposedly a third unlisted option to the quest where you can unite the 2 colonies for a much larger exp reward. Although the item chest at the end had subpar items, this quest chain was done mainly for the exp gain. It was sufficiently enough to get me to level 25 in a few days' time.

"And the 'Me Lost Booty!' quest NPC is in the 10th floor town behind the inn next to the well." She concluded, and immediately opened a trade window with me.

Honoring my side of the deal, I selected the [Stolen Treasure] and clicked on trade.

_**-Item is bound on pickup.-**_

"Hm?" I muttered confusedly as I read the message. I tried again.

_**-Item is bound on pickup.-**_

"Huh, it says 'item is... bound... on...*gulp*" I looked at Argo sheepishly. Her face was hidden under her hood, but I could sense the general vibe.

She's pissed.

I braced myself, counting down to the imminent nuclear explosion.

"... It's my mistake." She uttered through gritted teeth. "I should have checked beforehand."

"I'm sorry," I apologized, genuinely feeling bad. "I didn't know..."

"Oh, that's alright," She looked up, giving the most forced smile I've ever seen in my life. "It's just over 1,000,000 Col in information down the drain."

Closing the trade window, I guiltily looked at her. "Well... thanks for-"

She walked right up to me and pointed a finger inches from my face.

"You owe me. Big time." She glowered. I raised my hands in surrender.

"Alright, alright. I'll make it up to you somehow, I promise. Just one more thing." She narrowed her eyes at me, and raised an eyebrow expectantly.

"Where's the portal to the 2nd floor?" I asked.

"2,000,000 Col."

"Ehhhhh~?!"


	3. Chapter 3

**DISCLAIMER :** Sword Art Online does not belong to me, but to its respective writers, developers, publishers, etc. You know how it goes. I do, however, have the right to any and all OC's than can and will appear throughout the story. That being said, let's get it done!

Eyes of the Falcon : Chapter 3

* * *

**3rd Floor : Forest of Wavering Mist**

"Halt."

Two elves which resemble uniformed castle guards simultaneously raised their bows in my direction and looked at me sternly.

"Your kind is not welcome in these parts. State your business, or leave now."

I didn't answer immediately. Argo specifically stated that to activate the quest, a key phrase had to be conveyed to the acting NPCs.

I squared my shoulders and said, "I will speak to your leader and no one else."

The elf guards gave a firm nod.

"Very well."

* * *

The trek through the elven forest raised my appreciation for the detail of this game. For someone who cursed at the irony of SAO, I have to admit that its intricacies are remarkable, almost lovingly crafted. As the guards led the way, I noticed its elaborate elements; the trees and their leaves sparkled a gentle silver, tinged with enchantments; the sky, blue and perfect; and softly filtered sunlight gave the place a mystical, mysterious feel. A sort of secret hidden magic.

We stopped at the foot of a large clearing. The trees here were extremely tall, garlanded with fresh pastel flowers; their branches decorated with cozy-looking woodland homes.

Almost suddenly, a congregational mass of elves started appearing. All of them wore a form of lightly colored garment— the clearing was suddenly dotted with pale blue, yellow, green, brown.

The groups of elves began to clear a wide, single path while some elf-children scurried off and peeked shyly past the tree trunks and boughs.

Other elf guards, similarly dressed to the ones in front of me, formally marched through the crowd and filed into a line, allowing a tall, young lady elf to pass through.

The guards who escorted me stepped into the clearing and bowed to the lady elf, "High Priestess, we bring you a human who wishes to speak to your Ladyship."

The High Priestess looked over and beckoned me with an elegant smile. I walked somewhat stiffly towards them, feeling slightly nervous because she was by far the most beautiful character I've ever encountered in the game.

Dressed in a cream, ceremonial gown, the Priestess with her long dark hair, milky skin, and wide green eyes gracefully extended her palms and welcomed me warmly.

"Greetings. I do apologize for the hostility of your escorts, but these are trying times for my people." Her expression turned sad as she continued, "You see, for a time now we have been at war with our former brothers and sisters, our counterparts; the Dark Elves. We held a happy past, living in peace and protecting the knowledge of our ancestors in harmony. However... that peace was destroyed when the Dark Elves stole a very valuable artifact..."

"May I ask what the artifact was?" I ventured curiously.

The High Priestess gave me a look that bordered on cold but said nothing.

_Huh, maybe I should ask again when I get further into the quest line._

"So what can I do to help?" I asked.

She looked to my right, directing her gaze to a lightly-armored elf; presumably the captain, for a few moments before nodding. He responded with a nod of his own, and spoke.

"Our scouts have reported sightings of Dark Elves roaming around our territory." He said. "Go there and see if you can discover their intentions, and if need be, eliminate them."

As he finished speaking, a blip appeared on my map, showing me the location for the next part of the quest. With a slight bow, I turned and left.

* * *

**6th Floor : Moonlit Caverns**

The missions eventually ended up being your average fetch quests and hunt quests. You know, go here, kill 10 of these, collect 20 of those, then come back so you can do it again. There were parts of the missions that involved attacking these Dark Elves. It was... difficult because they looked so _human_. But I constantly reminded myself that they were just NPCs. No harm done... right? And besides, the exp was good. Like, really good. I've just gotten up to the 6th floor and I'm already level 19.

Also, each phase of the quest chain gave me a piece of equipment from what was called the _"__Alberich"_ set. So far, I've got the Alberich chest guard, leggings, boots, and gloves. It was made of a high quality leather that gave a huge boost to my DEX stat. Its defensive stats were decent too, but I still had little trouble with attacking from a distance. What annoyed me was that these elf mobs could also attack from a range with their bows.

_Ah well...let's see...this should be the spot for the Dark Elves camp...I wonder whe-_

"Halt."

_Of course._

"Your kind is not welcome in these parts. State your business, or leave now."

I closed my eyes and sighed inwardly, before saying, "I will speak to your leader and no one else." Again.

The two elf guards nodded firmly. Again.

"Very well."

The Dark Elves encampment was different from the Forest Elves domain. The latter resided mostly in the tall trees, but the Dark Elves made their home in dimly lit caverns. As I approached, their leader stepped forward, a tall slender male elf with pale grey skin.

"Greetings. I am the Sentinel of the Night Elves. I hope you can forgive our hostility, but this is a difficult period for my people." He said grimly. "In past times, we had an alliance with our brothers, the Forest Elves. But it did not last, as they made off with a sacred artifact."

"What was the artifact, if I may ask?" I questioned, hoping to have better luck this time. He blinked at me before replying.

"There is a temple, hidden away, that holds the secret art of our ancestors. We, the elves, were charged to protect it at all costs. There exists a key, with the power to remove the seal that prevents entry into the inner sanctum. At all costs, we were to prevent this knowledge from falling into the wrong hands."

"But unfortunately," He continued, his eyes dark. "Our ex-brethren, the Forest Elves, believed themselves better, and stole the key."

_That's odd...the Forest Elves clearly believed that the Dark Elves were the ones who betrayed them and stole this key thing. Well, regardless..._

"So what can I do to help?" I asked, repeating the quest-activating phrase.

_Here we go again._

* * *

**9th Floor : Forest of Evening Shadow**

Congratulations! You are now level 23!

Well. This was the exact same set of quests as before, only for the other side! I don't think it gets any more frustrating as it gets. It feels like I'm back to farming pigs on the 1st floor.

But hey, level 23! I brightened up as I closed the notification window. I suppose it could be worse. After all, this IS an exploit of doing both quest chains to get double the experience. That being said, I collected the loot and went back to the Dark Elves' encampment.

"Excellent work." The Sentinel said. "Despite being a human, you have more than proven yourself as an ally of the Dark Elves. Take this as a token of my gratitude."

And with that, I obtained the Alberich Pauldrons, completing the equipment set. As I equipped it, a popup window appeared above my equipment tab. Using my finger, I hovered over it to read what it said.

_Full set bonus : [Acrobatics] skill levels twice as fast._

Acrobatics...If I wasn't mistaken, that was what affected jump height and aerial mobility. Mine was still level 1, which restrained me to the normal jump height of an average human. I testingly hopped up and down a few times to see what would happen. With my menu still open, I could see the skill leveling up every few jumps. Within 5 minutes my [Acrobatics] skill went up to 20, and I was backflipping and somersaulting around the Dark Elves cavern, the NPCs' heads bobbing up and down as their coding forced them to keep looking at me.

"With the tasks you have aided us in, we have come to the conclusion that the Forest Elves may not have stolen the artifact."

I noticed this as an opportunity to trigger the hidden quest to unite the two races. I recited what Argo told me a few days back.

"The Forest Elves feel the same way. It would be wise to unite to find the true culprit." As I finished speaking, the Elves around me started murmuring amongst themselves. The Elder raised his hand, followed by complete pin-drop silence.

"For years we may have been fighting, and spilling the blood of our own kind... because of a misunderstanding. What the human speaks is true. In 2 days' time, we will convene in front of the ancient temple. There, we will once again be united as Elves, one race, one people."

The Elves cheered, pumping their fists into the air. I, on the other hand, opened my map to see a new quest marker appear on the 9th floor. With a nod to the Sentinel, I turned and left the camp.

Congratulations! You are now level 24!

* * *

**9th Floor : Ancient Elven Temple Grounds [5.30 AM]**

As I walked towards the quest marker, I went through the instructions given to me by Argo once more.

_"The Elves will meet at 6.00 AM sharp. At 5.45 AM, there will be a treasure chest that spawns randomly inside the main room of the temple. You have 15 minutes to get in, open the chest, and exit the temple. If the Elves spot you exiting, the quest will fail and you won't get the exp bonus."_

Sounded simple enough, but I wondered, what could be in that chest that warranted risking the entire quest for? When I asked Argo, she shrugged and told me that the beta-testers claimed it was a bugged item, as in it had no use in the game besides selling to NPCs.

I decided to go for the chest anyway, as something bugged in the beta would definitely be patched now, right? So I continued walking for another few minutes until the temple came into view.

The only word I could find for it was... well, it's... _nice_. But not as pretty as the Forest Elves' home; or as gothically grand as the Night Elves' place. It looks like it was encrusted into a mountain making the structure look huge; 20% stone blocks and columns, 80% mountain greens. I guess it was designed to be nature- friendly since you know... elves. I watched some gazelles playing and grazing on one of the temple's mountainsides before making my way to the entrance.

The temple had flat, wide stairs which stretched for about 30 meters to a marble door that was heavily carved with ivy vines.

I climbed up until there was a quarter-way to go and sat down on the steps of the temple, waiting for the 5.45 mark on my in-game clock.

_10 seconds to go... 5... 4... 3... 2... 1..._

As soon as the countdown ended, a new icon appeared on my map, with the appearance of a treasure chest.

The door glowed a bright silver and slowly raised upwards.

I stood and hurriedly climbed the rest of the steps to the temple. As I reached the top, I received a new notification, but I paid it no mind as I continued jogging, passing the doorway and going through the halls, searching for the chest.

Okay, I know I'm looking for a chest, but as I ran, I couldn't help but notice all these great paintings of elf pictures on the walls; it was like an elf art museum. I caught some of the images as I ran by — a little elf girl singing with a bunch of animals; two guy elves with bulky armor clapping their hands in victory over a reunited family of deer; Forest Elves climbing trees and braiding flowers in their hair; Dark Elves gathered around a bonfire in the caves... great works of creation, and then I hit this collection's biggest motherlode.

_Aha! There, I found it!_

An ornamental-looking chest stood there, waiting like a lovely date to be picked up. The wall behind the chest signaled to me that this was the end of the building. It held the coolest picture so far. There were two elf guys; one was wearing a sort of greenish-brownish robe and the other one was wearing black armor with a gradient charcoal cloak— both were holding awesome looking bows that matched their respective color scheme, crossed over one another. They were looking straight ahead with what I _think_ are happy expressions; as happy as elves go, I guess.

But whatever. Treasure, here I come!

Walking up to the delightfully beauteous chest, I checked the time again. 5.52 PM. Plenty of time to grab the goods and get back out the way I came. Let's see...

I opened the chest, expecting some phat loot, but I instead got...

_**-You obtained [h&211s%n] x100-**_

What.

No. No way. There has to be a mistake. I opened up my inventory to double confirm the name of the item I just got.

**_-[h&211s%n] x100-_**

There it is, plain as day. A hundred pieces of corrupted shit. How could they have let this go unfixed? It must have been reported several times in the beta. In the midst of my grumbling, I noticed that one of the entries on my inventory list was blinking, indicating a new updated item. I scrolled up to it and a popup appeared.

Item [Stolen Treasure] has transformed into [Stolen Artifact].

_Artifact? ... Why do I feel like I've heard that word several times before?_

Out of curiosity, I selected the item, summoning it into my hands. All of a sudden, the wall with the painting of the elf guys behind the chest started rumbling. With the sound of grinding stone, a hidden doorway unveiled itself, revealing a large room deeper within the temple.

* * *

Ok, now THIS is interesting. I peered around for any unusual movements and I stored the weird treasure back in my inventory to keep my hands free. A secret room... and I'm not sure if I want to go inside.

... slowly now.

I stepped forwards cautiously, little by little; good... past the door, good good. It was just enough to get a decent look at the whole room.

The place was enormous. A few giant domes graced the ceiling and there's paneling everywhere. The only sources of light came from the gold-wood torches that circled around the higher parts of the walls and right in the middle of the room; a large rectangle of gleaming stone, was illuminated.

I hesitated before taking another step further inside. I mean, these kinds of rooms are usually the holy grounds for booby traps; poisoned darts, breakaway floors, and freaky lights that whiz around you before spotlighting a door that releases monsters.

Twenty three baby steps in and everything was still okay... I looked around again. Nothing really stood out except for the stone rectangle thing way over there...

The stone block looked a lot like an altar or sacrificial slab... but instead of a pretty girl or princess lying on it, there was a simple-looking archer's bow.

Usually, there'd be a sane sounding voice in my head to telling me not to touch anything in this sort of circumstances. But right now, it's practically screaming at me to take the bow... either that, or my sane voice is on vacation.

As soon as my fingers hit the oaky wood of the bow's grip, an orange notification icon appeared on my menu dashboard. I scanned the first few words quickly.

_**«New Message Received»**_

_That's strange. I wonder who's__—_

_**«From: System Admin»**_

_What?! But... there aren't any system admins... except for..._

**"As of this moment, I am the sole person who can control this world." **

_Kayaba Akihiko..._

I opened up my inbox and selected the message quickly.

_Unique Skill Unlocked : __[Eyes of the Falcon]_

_Description: This skill allows for—_

"So... in an ironic twist of fate, the newcomer who sought to aid us turned out to be the true traitor."

I stopped reading, startled by the soft voice... a voice filled with quiet rage.

I whirled around. Standing near the doorway was the High Priestess... and she did not look happy.

To make things worse, the Dark Elf Sentinel jumped out of nowhere from the shadows, pulled out a dagger and looked at his reflection in it, completely serious.

"It seems to me, my Lady, that we have been wrongfully at odds for far too long," he mused. "As I gaze upon myself, I see that our long standing expressions of unconfined abhorrence should finally reach an end. It is impossibly clear that our union is inevitable." He gave a dramatic pause and elegantly raised a long eyebrow at her.

The edges of the High Priestess' lips tugged upwards, "Our forefathers might have blanched at the thought of our adhesion due to our sordid past. But now here you are, mending the wreckage. My, how very astute. And, may I add, rather charming as well..."

I watched in bewilderment at their banter. Wait... she's blushing.

Are they... are they_ flirting_ with each other?

This is weird.

"As are you, my Lady", the Dark Elf gave an easy bow before continuing, "Might I suggest that we pick up from where we left off after we have come to terms with the root cause of our difficulties?"

Their flirty faces melted off in less than a second as they turned to me with angry elf stares.

And I must look really guilty holding the bow right now...

Uh oh.

* * *

**Author's Note : **Hey guys, sorry it took me so long to update this. Next chapter should be up a lot sooner than this one was. Promise. Sorta. Kinda. Now to answer some reviews! :D

_ThisIsTheGreatestUsername_ : Hey there! Thanks for reading my story =) I get that chapters should be longer, and they will get progressively longer. I'm aiming for about 3,000 - 4,000 words per chapter on average, it's just short now since everything's just getting started. About character development and plot, don't worry your scientific mind about that, I've got everything planned out and it will blow your mind. Hypothetically. Maybe. Thanks for taking the time to review my story, it helps a lot to hear people's opinions about it! Hope you stick around to see it evolve!

_madeleinemagical83_ : Hello there! Thanks so much for reading my story :B I agree that the summary made me cringe too, but I've gone and changed it since then, hopefully it's a tad better now. About the story deviating from the canon, you can bet your magical pants it will! Hope you keep following this story and reviewing!

_ScourgeofShadowsKarx (Guest) _: Heya, thanks for reviewing my story :) Hope you leave a signed-in review the next time if possible =) Makes me feel fuzzier on the inside.


	4. Chapter 4

**DISCLAIMER :** Sword Art Online does not belong to me, but to its respective writers, developers, publishers, etc. You know how it goes. I do, however, have the right to any and all OCs than can and will appear throughout the story. That being said, let's get it done!

Eyes of the Falcon : Chapter 4

* * *

Maybe I can tactfully discuss my way out of this. They're leaders, aren't they? They're bound to listen to an earnest voice of reason.

I cleared my throat, "Excuse me..."

Then I spotted the High Priestess being surrounded by a bunch of glowing gold rings made of flowing, scripted words while she loudly whispered a strange-sounding chant. In a flash, a bright green wave of energy hurtled in my direction. On instinct, I dived out of the way, landing neatly on my feet as the blazing green streak blasted away part of the stone block, making it look like a rocky firework.

_Magic?! That's not fair! We can't use magic!_

I ran towards the far end of the sanctum, leaping to the left as another energy wave narrowly missed my boot.

I glanced back as I ran. The High Priestess was about to fire again when the Dark Elf raised his hand.

"Allow me, my Lady." He told her with a sound of an unsheathing blade punctuating his sentence.

I went into contact with a pillar and leaned onto it as I flicked through my inventories.

Throwing picks. Throwing picks. Come on, throwing picks.

_Bingo!_

Just in time. I looked up to see the Dark Elf sprint at full speed with two dangerous-looking daggers in either hand.

Three of my selected throwing picks flew and were embedded into the guy's left arm. I really didn't want to go all violent, so I thought I could hurt his foot, or slow him down, make him keel over, or stumble and fall, or _something_.

But that only made him madder.

With a war cry, he lunged at me with a dagger which I, of course, backflipped away from and sprung upwards to land on a—

_Argh!_

My landing base exploded into rubble and I guess it was the acrobatics system or something, but I automatically zeroed in on the larger exploded chunks and used them as aerial platforms to get to steady ground.

"Wait!" I called out to them, quickly selecting the [Stolen Artifact] and holding it before them as it manifested, "I didn't steal this. Here, take it." I gingerly set it on the floor, like some sort of peace offering.

The High Priestess glared, "You _dare_ insult us like that? The very secret it has been assigned to protect has been breached." She raged, gesturing to the bow in my hand.

The Dark Elf zinged back to her left and pointed his daggers threateningly at me. Their health bars glowed an acidic green; the Dark Elf's down by a small fraction while the High Priestess' was still full.

"You hold the true treasure in your hand, so blatant about your thievery. You betrayed our trust. And that..." He raked his blades together. "... is unforgivable."

"Indeed, it is not. And you will taint the bond of the Elves no longer." Agreed the High Priestess. "Shall we?" She asked her companion.

"Do let's." He started running to me again as the High Priestess unleashed a series of magic spheres my way.

I dodged a few but was hit by several others.

_Agh...! ... Oh no!_

The green in my HP bar dwindled.

_They're going to kill me! I can't die here._

I realized I was still holding the bow. I needed both my hands to fight if I wanted to live. No time to stow it away in my inventory, I settled for slinging it on my shoulder before interlocking throwing picks between all my fingers and flinging one set from each hand to the Dark Elf and High Priestess.

As they got hit, I quickly figured out a tactic. Higher ground, further distance. Good thing I'm into long range.

I jumped and flipped onto a beam, continuing my pick-throwing spree. Unfortunately for me, the Dark Elf was a pretty good gymnast as well and tried to throw himself at me like a nutcase. A nutcase with knives, that is.

I weaved myself around – jumping away to another beam as the Dark Elf sprang towards me; aiming at and attacking the two elves when I got the chance; evading the High Priestess' energy blasts.

I don't know how long this went on for, but I gradually worked myself into a pattern. I was hit on some occasions but I mostly managed to stay safely in the green, thank goodness.

As for the elves, I was able to get their health bars to almost three quarters down.

I directed more sets of throwing picks and moved to another beam. It's like this room was _made_ for this battle.

I bounded to the top platform of a large pillar and took cover.

_Ok, here comes another round!_

I reached into my pack to grab more picks.

-Throwing picks x0-

_Shit._

That's it, I'm dead. Dead dead dead dead...

And I noticed another blinking entry on my inventory that went unnoticed, bleeping in time to my chant.

Still mindlessly chanting in panic mode, I touched the blinking bar.

I vaguely felt something materialize across my back and then a weighted _thoop_.

-Equipped: Arrows x100-

_Wow!_

I don't know if it was because I couldn't wait to try it out or something, but I immediately unslung the bow and reached for an arrow, spinning around from the cover of the pillar.

I nocked the arrow and coolly scowled at the elves, "Take this."

And I let it fly.

*_TWOING_*

I watched speechlessly as the arrow bounced off two inches away and dropped, clattering as it fell to the floor and disappeared.

"The sacred knowledge!" The High Priestess and Dark Elf yelled, clearly not registering the disastrous first attempt.

"Okay! Maybe what I did just now wasn't a nice thing to do but I swear, I didn't mean to wrongfully take this– this secret knowledge." I said as a last ditch effort to change their minds.

And just to prove it to them, I grabbed another arrow and readied it.

"See... I don't even know how to use it."

As I pulled the bowstring back, I noted a glow that I doubted was there before to the arrowhead and the bow's sight window. I mentally shrugged and fired the arrow, bracing myself for another lame shot.

The arrow stuck fast to the Dark Elf's knee and worked up a spray of digital red.

Oh, _now_ system assist works.

"As of this moment, your mockery ends." The High Priestess' cold voice rang out.

"Wait... wait, please... this is a mistake. I would never harm or commit thievery on purpose."

"Silence! No more lies. We will extinguish your life now." They advanced towards me.

I would've walked away and let them be, but these guys are intent... _intent,_ on making sure I get chopped into a billion little cubes.

It's them or me. They'll be back. I won't. They're just NPCs. What am I so sorry for?

That's what I kept telling myself. It's not like I haven't "killed" before. After all, they _are_ NPCs... and yet... they treated me kindly; accepted me as a comrade...

_I can't. I can't... but... I have to._

Then I felt my heart harden.

I just kind of let my mind go blank and went along with my instincts, aided by the system assist. The only thing I thought of was survival.

With every arrow pulled from the quiver, my motions became quicker, more fluid; the arrows hitting them fast and direct as I resumed my acrobatically evasive pattern.

Their health gradually turned an angry shade of red while mine fell into the yellow zone.

The High Priestess was the first one down. She was particularly easy because she didn't move around; taking the hits with grace and carrying on with her attacks. Her health bar very slowly depleted down to its last remnants of deep red.

The Dark Elf looked up in shock, "My Lady!" He cried out, "I shall avenge you!"

He actually sounded upset, and it's a really big change from his previous attitude. If he seemed crazy before, well then, this is bonkers mode.

"Thief! Murderer! Miscreant!" He shrieked, lunging at me with almighty fury.

_That_ got me mad. If they'd been willing listen to justified logic and—

"Diiiiiiiiie!"

It wasn't in slow motion, but I saw it all. The direction he charged at me from. Hair flying; teeth bared. Wild eyes; dagger blades poised at me with barbaric precision.

In a singular motion, I sidestepped to the right, dodging his attack. From the corner of my eye I could already see him reversing the grip on his dagger, preparing to stab me in the back. Using the momentum of the dodge, I spun around, my hands shifting to the edge of my bow and my arms swinging it along with the motion of the spin. I was just a bit faster, and struck him in the head with a crushing blow; the visual on the impact of solid wood bruising the bone beneath flesh was more deafening than the sound of it.

The Dark Elf flew backwards several feet and fell to the floor with a groan.

* * *

"You have bested us. We concede." He sighed unhappily. He looked up contemplatively at the ceiling before turning over with a groan; feebly dragging himself and collapsing next to the High Priestess.

"My Lady...?"

No answer.

"My Lady…?" He breathed tiredly before trying again, "… Chiyoko-san?"

My eyes widened. Chiyoko-san?

Her laughter then came, soft, but clear.

"Chiyoko… yes… yes. After so long, we finally remember." Tears began to glaze her eyes.

"Don't cry, Chiyoko…" he begged, but, he too, started to tear.

"Wait… what's going on…? You're talking like you're… normal…– why?" I asked hesitantly, trying to keep bewilderment from controlling my tone.

The High Priestess, or rather, Chiyoko took a deep breath and eyed me somewhat apologetically, as if the confines of her mind were telling me that I was owed an explanation for all that took place.

"We are–... were normal. We used to work as programmers at Argus. An official from a rival company approached Argus with a proposition; an interesting one at that – without Akihiko's knowledge, of course. The man saw SAO as a free chance to test out a beta of a game that his company was working on, so he pulled some strings to get some testing ground. It was supposedly a fantasy themed elf-related RPG. Yusachi-san and I were offered a chance to participate. We were unknowingly fooled into trapping ourselves here by – ugh… what was that bastard's name again?" She turned to her partner.

"Nobuyuki Sugou." He reminded her through gritted teeth, as if the name left an acute taste of spoiled eggs and rotten fish.

"Right, _him_. Our consciousness were streamed from RECT's headquarters and uploaded into the SAO system. The point of this was to obtain an honest opinion of what it feels like to _be_ an elf… to be the star of the show– you know; more research data for his stupid RPG. So we were given the roles of NPCs here in the game. The cardinal system was tricked into reading our psychological signals as engineered character codes for SAO. And we were tricked into thinking it, too."

"But you weren't really NPCs. Wouldn't you have been able to remember anything?" I asked. I couldn't believe what I was hearing… but in this mad world… what wasn't possible?

"Only slivers here and there. It only starts every time we regenerate… but it goes blank after that. The cardinal system will have overridden our senses, making us the pre-programmed NPC models that we are. Most RPGs nowadays have multiple ends; we've lived and re-lived… but never seemed to properly recall. It was assured that our memories would come back to us once the quest is completed. And Sugou – that worthless sack of shit – didn't tell us that it only applied to the true ending… one that would have ended with our deaths regardless, but this time, permanently." Tears started streaming angrily down her cheeks and she sobbed furiously, "He had us set up to die – that sick, deranged fuck."

Guilt clawed at me. Even if it was someone else who twisted their fate like that, it was _I_ who sent them to their deaths, "I'm… so sorry…"

"No." The Dark El- Yusachi objected.

"We were already dead the moment we agreed to this trial." Chiyoko nodded, "If anything… If anything _at all_, you've freed us. Thank you." She smiled faintly at me and wiped her face with her sleeve.

"Yusachi-san." She called.

He chuckled weakly, "I think we can skip the formalities."

"…Hayate."

"That's right." He glanced at her and started to go red as he continued... "Chiyoko, just so you know… I… I went along with this to get closer to you."

She laughed… a tragic and beautiful sounding laugh. "You should've told me sooner, you dolt."

Then she coughed and appeared to reach for him. He bridged out his arm, closing the gap that separated them.

"It's over for us. But at least I know in the end... _this_ end..." he grasped both her hands and held on tight, "... that we're finally making it out together."

She smiled sadly at him, "Yes... at least there's that."

I silently watched their exchange. There was nothing more to do or say.

Their fingers intertwined as their remaining health disappeared in unison. Then they were gone in a gentle, pixelated shroud.

I stood there, stunned and confused.

_Was it my fault?_

I walked over to the [Stolen Artifact] and grimly picked it up.

As I exited the sanctum, its heavy stone gateway, almost mournfully, rumbled closed.

It was a numb, slow walk to the entrance.

* * *

The Elven guards, both Forest and Dark clans, stood at attention outside the temple with their eyes trained on the far horizon.

I didn't know what was going to happen, now that the quest has been finished.

Noticing I was there, a pair from each of the clans stepped up to reproach me, "Halt. Your kind is not welcome among these parts. State your business, or leave immediately."

I viewed them all again, standing side by side as a group, with absolutely no animosity between them; waiting for leaders that would never arrive.

I exhaled wearily, "Yeah... I was just leaving", and went on walking.

* * *

**Author's Note : **I know I'm late. Please don't kill me :C

_BirnaBerry : Thanks for clicking on my story regardless! :D I really do try to have each chapter around 3k words, but around 2k I seem to have this issue where I get a brilliant idea to put into the story but it would only work if it was in a new chapter. Hope you keep reading!_

_2lazy2signin : I hate Gary Stu's :C I like you tho :3 Hope you sign in next time!_

_MyriadLies : And probably one of the slowest in updating too D: I will keep writing indeed! Thanks for reviewing!_

_ScourgeofShadowsKarx (Guest) : Hi again! How's this chapter for depth? :3 Thanks for the review, hope you sign in next time! Still awaiting the fuzzies!_

_ProwlHawthorne : I can understand that people won't click on this story at all for a few reasons. For instance, my summary is crap, there's a low word count and I update slower than a turtle walking in peanut butter. I do have high hopes for this story, and I hope you stay with it too!_


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